Where in the world Today?

Saturday, November 29, 2008

So, it's official. We sold our acreage! We signed the papers, came home and put up the sold sign ourselves. Okay, so we were a tad bit excited...

We have packed up most of what we own (the things that made the cut anyways, after the giant purge) into a ten by ten storage unit. Do you know how much you can fit into a ten by ten storage unit?? I admit it, I was skeptical that it could be done. Or maybe i didn't want to believe that it could be done. Packing up one's entire life into a ten by ten storage unit seems a bit depressing. Troy on the other hand, confident in his skills at 'tetris' was excited by the challenge. As he was on holidays for most of November, he did most of the packing and took daily trips to our storage unit (usually followed by a trip to the dump and a trip to Goodwill). He would typically call me at work on his way home from the storage unit to tell me about how much room there was left in the unit and, basically, how he is the best packer in the world. Ever notice that guys love to pack stuff? Whether it's packing the car for camping or rearranging the pantry to maximize space and organize, Troy loves to pack stuff. The storage locker exceeds in sheer volume anything he's ever packed before and you should have seen his face light up when we rolled open the door for the first time. Like a kid at Christmas! I, on the other hand, get very nervous about the fact that since Troy did most of the packing, I have no idea where anything is or what he decided to keep or what he decided to throw away. I guess it will be like Christmas for me when we eventually do unpack.

To celebrate the house selling, we immediately went and bought backpacks for our trip. It was very exciting! In true Troy style, he was sold on the first one he tried on. Period. In true Nicole style, I tried them all on, agonized about the decision, and then bought the first one i tried on. We then proceeded to take the backpacks for a walk, in the dark, empty ofcourse. No need to over exert ourselves just yet.

Photo Favorites

2011: Since returning home from the year of travel that was 2009, we spent 2010 struggling to strike a balance between establishing roots and entertaining urges to uproot. We think that a month in Nicaragua will be nothing, if not good for the soul.
...
2009: A year of volunteering and seeking adventure around the world.
The idea is simple enough and just feels right.
Maybe there was something in the spring air that day, or maybe we were under the influence of having had our eyes opened to a new reality last year on our visit to Africa, or maybe we had just grown restless, but we decided to leave our jobs, sell our house, and go out and see the world. Really see the world.

Moxy

Whenever I encounter something particularly difficult, no matter how trivial, say rain on a long run day or an impossible climb on a mountain bike trail, Troy says to me, "it's just testin' your moxy nic", to which my conditioned response has become "hey (insert obstacle here), is that all you got??!". Well, we have decided to step out of our comfort zone, test our moxy and ask the world, no matter what obstacles we face along the way, Hey World, is that all you got? We will, in turn, find out what we've got.

Our Journey

2011: Four weeks in Nicaragua, May 3-31.

2009: I hesitate to use the word 'itinerary' as I know that we are going to have to go with the flow and be extremely flexible. I can already here my sister's voice reminding me, as she has a million times in the past, "Nicole, there is Plan A, and then there's what really happens!"